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Vataian (Nkawg Hvaad Taij Eecj)
General information Vataian (Nkawg Hvaad Taij Eecj) is a tonal language created by Aekari Tennou for his fictional world. Vataian is the official language of the Kingdom of Vataiankt. Vataian is inspired by the real-world Hmong language. Phonology Consonants Orthography is indicated in parentheses next to the phoneme. Vowels Orthography is indicated in parentheses next to the phoneme. Diphthongs Alphabet Vataian is written using the 26 letters of the English alphabet in combinations shown above in the consonant and vowel charts. Because the Deesawtonian colonizers, who spoke American English, introduced an alphabet and the concept of "spelling" (and indeed the word itself) to Vataian, all of the names are derived from their American English names. Phonotactics Syllable structure There are four possible syllable types in Vataian. A vowel is required to serve as a nucleus, and both onsets and codas are optional. Consonant clusters are not permitted in Vataian. 1. V 2. CV 3. VC 4. CVC Properties of each syllable part 1. The nucleus of a syllable must be a vowel. Any Vataian vowel may serve as the nucleus of a syllable. A consonant cannot serve as the nucleus. 2. The onset of a syllable may be any Vataian consonant. 3. The coda of a syllable, in the orthography, may be taken by any Vataian consonant except for /h/, /w/ or /j/. However, when the word is spoken, only 13 consonants may be used as codas in almost all cases. The following rules (collectively called "The Coda Rules") are observed: *Case 1: If you are saying the names of letters or spelling something... **The coda is pronounced as written. **Some speakers may opt to follow the rules below instead, considering an entire spelling to be one lexical item so that the names of letters before the final letter are pronounced as written, and the last letter is pronounced following rule 3 if applicable. *Case 2: If the syllable ends with /m/, /n/, /ɲ/, /ŋ/, or /ʔ/, or the syllable is not the last element of a lexical item (i.e. a "word")... **The coda is pronounced as written. *Case 3: If the syllable is the last element of a lexical item (i.e. a "word") or at the end of an utterance... **The coda must be devoiced. **The coda must be deaspirated. **A non-prenasalized coda must be converted into the corresponding tenuis plosive, and a prenasalized coda must be converted into the corresponding prenasalized voiceless unaspirated consonant, according to place of articulation, as shown in the charts below. Bilabial and Labiodental Consonants Alveolar and Retroflex Consonants Palatal Consonants Velar Consonants Coda Rule Examples: Case 1. Soe-Phel-Ring nyaoq ngooj, Haf Ras, Eitx-Ei-Ef Ar-Ei-Es ei˧ ef˧ aɾ˧ ei˧ es˧. = The spelling of my name, Haf Ras, is H-A-F R-A-S. *Note that all of the names of the letters are pronounced as written and do not undergo phonological change. Case 2. Hfeung ɸɨŋ˧ rewi hod haig Rosq Sya'j çaʔ˨˦. = Your friend lives in the Kingdom. *Because "hfeung" ends in /ŋ/, it is pronounced as written. *Because "Rosq Sya'j" is a compound word, the first part "Rosq" is not the final element of the word and therefore its coda is pronounced as written. *Because "Sya'j" ends in /ʔ/, it is pronounced as written. Case 3. Ntxingd Taoj-Yeiq rosq ɾot˥˩. Ntal aontsh aoⁿt˧ xoi xifl ʂip˦. = Tao-Yei Ching is the king. He is kind and passionate. *Because "rosq" appears at the end of the utterance, the /s/ is changed into a t. *Because "aontsh" is the last (indeed, only) lexical element of that word, the /ⁿdzʰ/ is devoiced, deaspirated, and converted into the corresponding plosive ⁿt, while leaving prenasalization intact. *Because "xifl" is both at the end of the utterance and is the last (only) lexical element of that word, the /f/ is devoiced and converted into the corresponding plosive p. Tone Vataian has seven tones. Grammar Word Order Vataian's neutral word order is subject-verb-object. Example 1 This word order is maintained in all clauses, whether they are independent or dependent, as shown below. Example 2 Example Texts Vocabulary Lexical Vocabulary Verbs are listed in infinitive form in English and should be looked up by the first letter of the root, i.e. "to look" should be looked up in "L," not "T. Numbers Proper Names Functional Vocabulary Category:Languages